Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a (a) cross-industry and (b) cross-departmental taskforce to review long-term strategy for the wraparound childcare sector.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.
This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.
The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to develop a cross-government strategy for the future of school-aged childcare funding after 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.
This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.
The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to renew the (a) Wraparound Childcare Programme and (b) Holiday Activities and Food Programme in 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.
This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.
The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of sustained funding for school-aged wraparound childcare.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.
This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.
The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to produce a strategy on widening the availability of wraparound childcare.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.
This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.
The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) implications for her policies of the (i) financial and (ii) housing pressures experienced by kinship carers and (b) impact of those pressures on the sustainability of Special Guardianship placements.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government recognises the significant financial, and wider, pressures faced by kinship carers and their impact on the sustainability of special guardianship placements.
That is why the government announced £40 million investment in a Kinship Allowance Pilot, which will test the impact of providing an allowance to kinship carers. The Expression of Interest for this pilot launched on 17 June 2025 and more information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-become-a-kinship-allowance-pilot-provider. The programme is expected to begin in autumn 2025 and will support approximately 5,000 kinship children.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are enshrining the first definition of kinship care in law and mandating local authorities to publish their kinship local offer, increasing their accountability for ensuring all kinship families are getting the information they need about the support available to them.
The department also funds the charity ‘Kinship’ to provide over 140 peer support groups and a free training package for kinship carers across England.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve coordination between public services and local authorities in cases involving safeguarding concerns for children under Special Guardianship Orders.
Answered by Janet Daby
The multi-agency statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ outlines how sharing of information between organisations and agencies within a multi-agency system is essential to improve outcomes for children and their families, including those with Special Guardianship Orders.
As part of the roll-out of the Families First Partnership Programme, the department is ensuring stronger multi-agency approaches to child protection and safeguarding for all children, including those under Special Guardianship Orders. This includes legislating for new multi-agency child protection teams and a strengthened role for education in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
£555 million will be available for 2026/27 and 2027/28 to local authorities to roll out these reforms across the country. This in addition to the £500 million made available for 2025/26, which will also continue for each year of the spending review period.
‘Working together to safeguard children’ was updated in 2023 to place additional focus on strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authority compliance with the requirement to provide support plans to kinship carers under Special Guardianship Orders.
Answered by Janet Daby
There is a general duty on local authorities to arrange for the provision of special guardianship support services in their local areas.
Children who were previously looked after by a local authority, and their special guardians, have an automatic right to an assessment for special guardianship support services from the local authority that last looked after the child. Other special guardians may request an assessment, but it is at the discretion of the local authority whether to carry one out.
Ofsted has a crucial role to play in upholding children’s social care standards, including the support services provided by local authorities to families and children who have special guardianship orders in place. They provide independent, up to date evaluations on the quality of support, safeguarding, and leadership, making sure children are safe and supported.
In May 2025, the Law Commission began a project to consider the scope for reform to simplify and streamline the orders underpinning kinship care placements and how to better support the consideration of kinship care as an option for children who cannot remain with their parents. It will consider the adequacy and consistency of the legal orders underpinning kinship care placements, including whether the current legislation meets the needs of children and kinship carers.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of training available to school and children's social care staff on (a) recognising and (b) responding to anxiety-led behaviour in children.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
Support from the department includes an online resource hub that hosts practical and evidence-informed resources to support the delivery of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The hub includes support for responding to anxiety-related issues and can be found here: https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) continue to roll out in schools and colleges across the country, delivering evidence-based interventions for early mental health issues and supporting mental health leads with their whole school approach. As of April 2024, MHSTs covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England and the department expects coverage to have reached at least 50% of pupils and learners this year. Through expanding MHSTs, the government will make sure that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
Statutory guidance for virtual school heads sets out that they should, where possible, work with designated teachers to ensure that schools are able to identify signs of potential mental health issues and know how to access further assessment and support where necessary. This includes ensuring that schools understand the impact that issues such as trauma and attachment difficulties can have on looked-after and previously looked-after children.
Provision of continuing professional development for employed social workers is a matter for their employer. The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards which all social workers must meet. These require social workers to promote the strength and wellbeing of people, including children, and provide or support people to access advice and services tailored to meet their needs.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the extent to which unmet support needs related to Special Educational Needs and Disability are considered in assessments of parenting capacity during child protection and pre-proceeding processes.
Answered by Janet Daby
As a child-centred government, we are taking forward significant reform of children’s social care to rebalance the system towards earlier intervention and ensure that children and families get access to the right help, at the point of need. Our Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £500 million in 2025/26, emphasises the importance of a whole family approach throughout the system of help, support and protection.
The department’s statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ encourages local authorities to consider appointing a Designated Social Care Officer who can help strengthen the links between social care services and the special educational needs and disabilities system, and co-ordinate children’s educational, health and care needs assessments with other social care assessments. The guidance is also clear that practitioners should consider the needs of parents when assessing whether a child is in need of protection. In pre-proceedings, the local authority should work in partnership with families and, where possible, any extra support or services needed to support the family should be identified and put in place.